Awesome Food, Fashion, and Animals of Jaipur, India
Want dancingly bright colors on food and clothes, awe-inspiring mustaches, and CAMELS? Don't miss the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, India! It was a mega-highlight our teacher tour of India in December, and these photos demonstrate why.
In the first photo, how can you resist a moist emerald-green mystery dessert coated in silver foil and advertised with that irresistibly curly Indian script that looks like my hair on a windy day? Then the second photo: MUSTACHE. Epic mustache. There are many such facial hair specimens in Jaipur, and it makes an eye happy.
Then there are Jaipur's luscious indoor and outdoor clothing markets. I bought all my sparkly Indian skirts in those stalls (after intense and passionate haggling) and my husband Colin purchased custom-made suits fit for a king for a fraction of the price. Below you can see the top-end fashion practice of hand-stamping patterns on cloth.
But enough of clothes... Let's get to the animals! Though New Delhi has outlawed the famous Indian practice of cows wandering the city, Jaipur most certainly has not. In the span of ten minutes you can ogle goats, camels, elephants, cows, and pigs striding through the street, as comfortable as can be. "Tra la la!" sings this goat, below, as he frolics with the endless pigeons of Jaipur.
And who can forget CAMELS? Camels, sweet camels, make my Boston vision cavort with glee. There are more camel photos coming in subsequent articles, but here's a sweet, small taste of Jaipur camel action until then:
Camels... Just hanging out with the cars in Jaipur, like, "What's up? I'm a camel!" But meanwhile in the background (behind all the animals), India has more gorgeous buildings than it knows what to do with. Here's one of my favorites in Jaipur: the Palace of Winds.
As in hectic Old Delhi, Jaipur has its share of mystifying and intriguing street food. I'd love help identifying the specimen below. Is it tomatoes with green beans with... dried grains? Clearly I need expert food identification intervention. Help!
It must be noted that even the TRUCKS in India add to the rainbow zeal. Can you imagine a burly trucker in Texas rocking out the vehicular decoration, below?
To close out this Jaipur post, allow my pregnant self to bring it all back to food: Sparkly, shockingly-colored, sweet and sticky food. Does it make you hungry, baby? Well, if green and silver candy doesn't do it for you, click on these photos from a chocolate tour in Boston to see the funny similarity between the strawberry-shaped confection in India and one across the world in Massachusetts!
So does Jaipur seem like your scene so far? If you've been there already, what did you think? Do share!
The author, Lillie Marshall, is a 6-foot-tall National Board Certified Teacher of English, fitness fan, and mother of two who has been a public school educator since 2003. She launched Around the World “L” Travel and Life Blog in 2009, and over 4.2 million readers have now visited this site. Lillie also runs TeachingTraveling.com and DrawingsOf.com. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media!
Nice post and collection of photos are really good Lillie....Jaipur is really beautiful city nice fun loving people made it more beautiful .
Awesome food and that guy with big mustache is just looking awesome..
Did you buy bandhini (tie and dye) scarves in Jaipaur? Aren't they gorgeous :-) That street food kiosk is selling green lentils (moong beans) with chopped tomatoes, onions, and a spicy masala - the resultant concoction is called Moth Chaat
India is huge on my to do list. So much culture, good food and friendly people. Jaipur looks so wonderful, love all your beautiful pictures
Gorgeous photos, Lillie. I'd love to go to India...
goats and pigeons in perfect harmony lol
Now, that's a great mustache. The closest I've ever seen in the US was in Texas, but I think the man in Jaipur has him beat
That is totally an EPIC moustache!!!!
i love your choice of animals, street booths, food and buildings. i'm a little kid and the pictures of the book always draw my heart in the most. thank you lillie. how are you feeling this week?
Thanks! I'm now four months pregnant and feelin' good. Starting to "show" a little at last. Thanks for asking!
Great photos! You really captured the vibrancy, colors and character of the Pink City :)
Thanks! That means a lot coming from a master photographer like you!
Those are some great shots? India is truly a beautiful country.
India decorates its trucks nicely, indeed. Great fun to have one so brilliantly decorated.
That photo of the Palace of Winds in Jaipur is stunning
It's one of the most amazing buildings I've ever seen.
I'd love to visit the Palace of Winds, that looks like nothing I've ever seen before. A magnificent structure that I think our readers would love to see.
I would love to go to India. The colors are amazing! I bet it is one crazy country! :-)
love the colors - WOW!!
We loved Jaipur! That's where my daughter picked up silk harem pants, and we fell in love with the lassi that you get in a clay cup.
Ah, that sounds delicious! Our local guide was perhaps overprotective in advising us to steer clear of the lassis while in India, but I am a fan of the drink in general.